Photographic-printing machine.



'A. W. DREYPOOS. PHOTOGRAPHS PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13, 1913.

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PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINE, APPLICATION FILED ROVI13, 1913.

7 1,099,694, Patented Jun 9, 1914.

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A. W. DREYFOOS.

PHOTOGRAPHIG PRINTING MACHINE. urmoymou FILED NOV. 13, 1913.

1,099,694. Patented June 9,1914.

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Wizfnesaefx UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

ALEXANDER W. DREYFOOS, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 0F 0NE-HALF TO HENRY OBSTFIELD, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

PHOTOGRAPHIG-PBINTIN G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER IV. DREY- roos, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mount Vernon, in the county of 'estchester. State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Photographic Printing Maehines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for producing impressions by means of light on sheets of sensitized photogra hic paper. Its principal object is to provide an improved machine, for automatically producing such photographic prints in'large quantities.

Another object is to provide improved means for controlling the application of light in such machines, and still another object is to furnish improved means for holding the sensitized paper-whileexposures are being made. 1 V v In connection with the automatic operation, means are provided for automatically placing sheets of sensitized paper over the negatives, and als means for automatically removing the prints after the exposures.

An important feature of the machine is in mounting the negatives on a platen, which moves to and fro, between the supply of sheets of paper'and'the source of light, so

that the platen and negatives are accessible at the commencement of the platen movement for inspection and adjustment.

A further. object is to provide means whereby the negatives can be conveniently shaded, by having under them sheets of semitransparent material when the exposures to i the light are made, .and in conneetion'with sa1d shading 1neans, there are means for tails of the cams.

shifting parts of the feed mechanism, to provide access to said shading devices.

The means I employ for accomplishing these results are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which.

Figure l is a longitudinal section of my imprm'ed photographic printing machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.- Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-;3 with certain parts broken away. Fig.4'is alongitudinal section of the cylinder. Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan of the platen and the mechanism for re-. moving prints. Fig.6 is an enlarged cross section of the feedba'r. Figs. .7 and 8 are details of the valves and their controlling mechanism. Figs. 9 'to 16 inclusive are de- Like characters refer to like parts in all figures of the drawings.

improved photographic printing machine comprises the following groups of mechanism; a s'ource of intermittent light and controlling means therefor; a platen for supporting the negatives and mechanism for moving it to and fro; a cushion for holding the photographic paper on the negatives, and operating mechanism for said cushion; a paper feeding mechanism; and mechanism for removing the prints. The intermittent light and its controlling means will first be described, and then the others in the order named, together with their operating mechanisms. The source of light is preferably a. mercury Vapor electric lamp, such as 2, mounted between pedestals 3, which are secured to the base-plate 4. The pedestals 3 are provided with cylindrical bearings 5, on winch are rotatably mounted the cylinder ends 6, of the cylinder 7. Insulating bushings 8 arefitted to the holes in said bearings, and serve to insulate the conductors 9, of the. electric lamp 2.

The cylinder 7 is provided with anopening 10, through which the light of the electric lamp can pass upward to the print paper through the negatives at the proper time, and ashutter 11 is provided to vary the Patented June 9, 1914.

effective width of said opening when it is ferentdegrees of. sensitiveness. The shutter '11 is provided with two segment-shaped ends 12wh1ch are mounted on hubs on the inner desirable to do so for printing paper of difportions of'the cylinder ends 6,, and the left. i

hand segment has a series of holes '13 iii-line axially with a spring-plunger 14 fastened V to the left hand cylinder end. The left hand shutter end also has a handle 15 fastened to it, and extending through a segmental slot 16 in the left handcylinder end. The mov able pin 17, of the spring plunger 14, normally remains forced into one of the holes 13 of theshutter end, and when it is desired ,to change the'width of the cylinder opening,

the pin is pulled back out of the hole, the 1 shutter is moved the proper amount by 'means of the handle 15, and the plunger pin,

on being released from the hand of the operator is forced by its spring into the hole for the required position.

The frame work of the machine consists of two side frames'18 and 19 mounted on the base 4, and connected by a back rail 20, a

0 18 and 19.

On the upper part of each of the sideframes 18 and 19 are the platen carrying ways 28 and 29, and on them is mounted the platen 30, consisting of a rectangular metal frame 31, a thick plate glass 32, fastened therein, and a removable frame 33, having a thinner glass 34. The last mentioned frame and glass can be drawn out of the platen, for the purpose of arranging shading papers under the negatives 35, which are carried on top of the thick glass plate 32. The platen is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in the printing position, but means are provided for moving it periodically toward the feeding portion of the machine, and said meanswill presently be described. v

The machine is driven by an electric motor 36, secured to the base 4, and having a worm 37 on its shaft 38, supported by the bearing 39 on the frame 19. The. worm 37 meshes with the worm gear 40, and by means of it rotates the cam shaft 41, which is mounted in a bearing 42in the frame 18, and in a pedestal bearing 43 secured to the base 4. The cylinder 7 is rotated in syncronism with the cam shaft by means of a spur gear 44 secured to the right hand cylinder end, and meshing with the gear 45 on the cam shaft. The platen 30 is provided with two racks 46, which mesh with gear segments 47 on the shaft 48, journaled in bearings 49 in the frames 18 and 19. A cam 50, onthe cam shaft oscillates the lever 51, carryingthe gear segment 52, and the latter oscillates the shaft 48 to and fro, by means of the pinion gear 53. The gear segments 47 being 0scillated with said shaft 48, give to and fro reciprocating movements to the racks 46 and by means of them to the platen 30, on which the racks are secured. I The cushion 54 for pressing the photographic paper against the negatives has a resilient pad 55 carried by. a frame 56. The cushion 54 is joined to forked arms 57 by link connections 58, and the two arms 57 at the right are secured to the shaft 60, while the two onthe left are secured to the shaft 61. Said shafts 60 and 61 are journaled in hearings in the brackets 62, bolted to the side frames 18 and 19. Secured to the shaft 60 at the rear end is an arm 63, pointing downward, and secured to the shaft'61, op- I posite to the arm 63 is an arm 64 pointing upward. A connecting rod 65 joins the arms 65 63 and 64, so that when the shaft 60 is given on said plate by adjustable a rocking movement in one direction, the shaft 61 will be rocked an equal amount in the opposite direction, which results in a uniform raising or lowering of all parts of the cushion 54 through the arms 57 and link connections 58. An arm 66 is fastened at the forward end of the. shaft 60 and connects with the cam 69 by means of a forked rod 67 and cam roll 68, said cam 69, cam roll 68, rod 67 and arm 66, giving up and down movements to the cushion suspension mechanism and cushion 54, at the proper time.

The paper feeding mechanism of the machine consists of means for holding a pile of sheets of paper, means for taking off sheets one by one from said pile, and for passing them back onto the negatives, where they are held by suitable grippers. Means are also provided for raising the pile of papers, the thickness of one sheet, each time a sheetis taken off by the mechanism. The apparatus for holding the pile of sheets is adapted t-o'be swung upward when the shading papers under the negatives-are being changed or. adjusted on the lower glass of the platen. The portion of the feeding mechanism-for carrying the pile of paper, is held by means of two upright bars 70, mounted on the base 4, connected together by a tie rod 71, and connected to the side frames 18 and 19 by brace rods 7 2,

The pile of paper 73 is supported on a rectangular plate 74, and held in position ages 75 and 76, and the wall 77 of the p ate. The back edge of said plate rests against the wall 78, and is movable up and down against the face of said wall. The frame for supporting the plate 74 and its actuating mechanism, consists of the cross bars 79 and 80, joined to L shaped members 81 at the ends, which are pivoted at 82 to the uprights 70, and rest on stops 83 formed on said uprights. The wall 78 is held on supports 84 secured to the cross bars 79 and 80, and its top edge is always level with the top of the pi e of paper. At the middle of the bar 80, is a plain vertical hole 85 through which freely passes the screw 86, and directly above is carried a bevel gear 87, with a threaded hub, through which the screw 86 passes, and

4 said screw supports the plate 74 at its upper end.

At each side of the machine, over. the forward portions of the side frames are mounted ways 88 and 89 on brackets 90. Over the way 88 is mounted a grooved bar 91, which has movable sections 92 and 93 at the forward and rear ends respectively. The section 92 is secured to the spindle 92, which has an arm 94, connected to a rod 95, operated by a cam 96 on the cam shaft 41'. The section 93 is secured to a spindle 97, which has an arm 98, connected to a rod 99, operated by a cam 100 also on the cam shaft 41.

. 127, and the The said movable sections 92 and 93 are capable of beingoscillated slightl by their respective actuating members. The ways 88 and 89 are fitted with shoes101 and 102, which are connected by a shaft 103, to which the arms 104, 105 and 106 are secured. The arm 104 carries a roll 107' engaging in-the,

groove 108 in the bar 91 and the arms/105 and 106 carry a rectangular suction tube 109, which is connected to flexible suction pipes 110. Said ipes are joined together by a main, which libs a valve 111, controlled by a rod 112 and a cam 113, on-the cam shaft 41. The suction tube 109 has a series of perforations 114 in its lower face, and is faced with soft material 115 as shown in section in Fig. 6. The shoes 101 and 102'have pins 116 which engage slotted levers 117, secured to the shaft 118, and oscillated by the cam 119, through the mediumof the rod 120. By means of said levers the shoes are given to and-fro movements in the ways at the proper time.

On the bar 80, in bearings 121 is mounted the shaft 122, having the bevel gear 123 meshing with the bevel gear 87 on one end and having a ratchet 124 at the other end. The ratchet 124 is operated by a pawl 125 on the arm 126, and actuated by means of a spring 127.' A pin on the arm 126 is en- *gaged by the shoe 101 to brin the arm and pawl to its initial position, an a stop screw 128 limits the travel of the arm in its working stroke. As the shoe is moved toward the platen the arm is actuated by the spring pile of paper is raised by the rotation of the threaded hub of the bevel gear 87 actuated by the shaft 122, the smaller bevel gear 123 and the ratchet 124.

The paper holding devices on the platen consist of a small shaft 129, having grippers 130, and arms 131, and jour'naled to the ack part of the platen 30 next to the thick glass 32. The arms 131 are looselv jour naled on the said shaft 129 and are yieldingly connected by coil springs 132. Suitable rolls on said arms 13]; bear against guidebars 133 on the brackets 62, and by means of the pressure .given to the springs to 132, the grippers are enabled to hold down a piece of paper at the back edge of the plate 32. The guide bars 133 have jointed front ends 134, which receive oscillating movements from a/cam 135, by means of the rod 136, actuating arm 137,-shaft 138, side arms 139, connecting rods 140, top arms 141 and rock shafts 142. When the platen is in its position next to the pile of papers, the cam 135, and the mechanism connected to it is operated to hold a sheet of paper when the edge of said sheet is passed under the grippers, by the lowering of the jointed front ends and bv means of these the grip pers are raised and the paper is ,released from the platen on its return movement by a valve 146, controlled by the cam the raising of said jointed enus. I Auxiliary The mechanism for removing the prints from the platenconsists of a suction tube 144, similar to the tube 109, and connected to flexible pipes 145, that join a main having 14 through the medium of the rod 148. The: suction tube 144 is mounted on a pair of slottedbars 149, carried on links l50, and capable of up and down movement, which is produced by a cam, 151, through a lever 152 and a rod 153. The bars 149 are also capable of to and fro motions in the same direction as the platen, and these motions are obtained by means of the cams 154, 155 rods 156, bell cranks 157, 158 and links 159 connected to collars 160 on sliding rods 161. The links 150 being mounted on the rods 161, to and fro movements aregiven to said links, together with the bars 149, and the suction tube 144. The suction tube 144 is secured to the slotted bars 149 by studs 162 and thumb nuts 163 so that it can be adjusted for various widths of paper.

Between the overhanging portions of the side frames 18 and 19 next to the paper feeding mechanism, is a drawer 164 for receiving the prints after they'have been ex posed to the light of the electric lamp 2. Said drawer is removable by slightly raising the paper feeding table, and pulling the drawer out under it. I

Paper guides 165 are placedjn the path of the unexposed sheets of paper when they are fed into the platen, and serve to keep their rear ends from dragging over the platen and negatives while being put in,

proper position.

The operation of my improved photograph printingmachine is as follows: The light in the room must be all cut off as otherwise the sensitized paper employed will be spoiled. A supply of sheets of sensitized photographic paper out to the proper size for the negatives is placed on the plate 74, and held by the-gages 75 and 76. The apparatus (not shown) for producing suction is then started, and allowedtorun long enough to obtain a suflicient suction for operating the suction tubes in the feed mechanism and the print removing mechanism. The motor 36. is now started and with it the machine, and on attaining full speed, they continue to run at that, speed until the power is shut off.

The first operation in the cycle of the machineis the lowering of the vacuum tube 109, so as to touch the uppermost sheet in the pile a short distance from its edge, and this is brought about by the downward movement of the movable section 92 of the grooved bar 91, which is operated by the arm 94, on the spindle 93, actuated by the rod 95 and cam 96 on the cam shaft 41. The suction valve 111 at this time has connected the vacuum apparatus to the tube 109, and the suction causes a sheet of paper to adhere to the lower face of said tube.

The tube now rises, together with the sec-.

tion 92, until said section is in alinement with the rest of the bar 91. The tube 109, its shaft arms and shoes, is now moved toward the platen 30, by means of the cam 119, the rod 120, and the slotted levers 117. The platen 30, at this time is in its outermost position next to the feed mechanism with the grippers 130 raised, and the sheet of paper is carried over until its forward edge is within the bite of said grippers.

The grippers are are'secured to the platen. The oushionl54- is now moved down onto the sheet of paper to press it' firmly against *the. negative, and

links 150.

caused to move down this accomplished by meansof the cams 69, roll 68, forked rod 67 and arm 66 operating the shaft 6-0, and the shaft 61 by means of the arms 63 and 64 andlink 65, said shafts operating theforked arms 57 joined to the cushion by the link connections 58. The cushion is-held down while the opening 10 in the light cylinder revolves around, so as to cast light upward from the electric lamp through the glass 24, funnel 25, and glasses 27, 34, and 32 and negatives 35 to the sensitized sheet of paper. The amount of exposure of said paper is determined by the cylinder speed and the width given to the opening 10 between the. edge of the cylinder 7 and the edge of the shutter 11. As soon as light is cut off from the paper, the cushion 54 is raised, the platen moves back to its outermost position, and the grippers 130 are raised, freeing the sheet of paper. The suction tube 144 is now in position over the rear part of the sheet of paper, and is until it makes contact with it, by means of the cam 151, lever 152, rod 153, arms 153 shaft 153*, and rods 153, and the slotted bars 149, carried on the Suction is applied to the tube 144 by the opening of thevalve 146' throughthe me dium of the rod 148 and cam 147, and the sheet adheres to the lower 144, and this is now raised, and moved toward the feed mechanism,'a distance sufficient to allow free access to the space under the grippers 130. A new sheet is now face of the tube:

fed into the bite of the grippers 130, and the.

platen moves to the printing position, while the printed sheet is still held by the suction tube 144. platen by reason of the platens own movement, the suction iscut off and said printed sheet falls into the drawer 164.

It Will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in theconstruction and arrangement of the parts of .the machine herein described without departing from the scope of my invention, and I do not therefore limit myself to any of the details herein illustrated for the purpose of describing the invention except in so far as I may be limited by the appended claims or by the state of the prior art.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by. Letters Patent is:

1. In a photographic printing machine the combination of, a sourceof intermittent light, a platen for supporting a negative, and a mechanism for periodically moving the platen to and fro relative to the source oflight.

- 2. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a source of intermittent light, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for periodically moving the platen to and fro relative to the source of light, and means for automatically placing a sheet of sensitized paper on the'negative.

When the said sheet-is free of the 3. In a photographic printing machine,

the combination of a source of intermittent light, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for periodically moving the platen to and fro relative to the source of light, a support for a pile of sheets of sensitized paper, means for feeding said support upward, step by step, the thickness of a sheet at each movement, and means for automatically taking the top sheet from the pile and placing it upon the negative.

4. In a photographic printing machine, the combination'of a source of intermittent light, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for periodically moving the platen to and fro relative to the .source of light, means for automatically placing a sheet of sensitized paper upon the negative, and means operative to remove the printed sheet from the negative upon the return movement of the platen.

5. In a photographic printing machine light, and an automatic paper feeding mechanism including a suction it upon the negative.

6. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a source of intermittent light, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for periodically moving the tube operative to engage a sheet of sensitized paper and place platen to and fro relative to the source of light, an automatic paper feeding mechanism for placing sheets of sensitized aper upon the negative, and means, includlng a suction tube, automatically operative to remove the printed sheets from the negative upon the return movement of the platen.

7. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a source of intermittent light and controlling means therefor, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for moving the said platen to and fro relative to the source of light, a cushion for holding photographic paper on the negative, a mechanism .for operating said cushion, an automatic paper feed mechanism, and a mechanism for automatically removing the prints. i

8. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a source of light, a rotary shutter having an adjustable opening, means for rotating the shutter, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for moving a the platen to and fro relative to the source the combination of a source for holding a sheet of on the negative, a mechlower the cushion upon the paper when the platen is in printing position, a mechanism for automatically placing a sheet of sensitized paper upon the platen prior to the forward movement of the atter and nieans for automatically removingthe printed sheet from the negative upon the return movement of the platen.

9. In a photographic printing machine the combination of the source of intermittent of light, a cushion photographic paper anism operative to light, a platen for supporting a negative, a

mechanism for periodically moving the platen toward and away from the light, a

support for a pile of sensitized sheets dis-.

posed adjacent to the platen, a movable suction tube operative to lift the top sheet from the pile and place it-upon the negative while the platen is in position adjacent to paper support, and means for holding the sheet upon the negative.

10. In a photographic printing machine of intermittent light, a platen for supporting a negative, a mechanism for eriodically moving the platen toward and away from the light, a support for a pile of sensitized sheets 'disposed adjacent to the platen, a movable suction tube operative to lift the top sheet from the pile and placeit upon the platen while the latter is in position adjacent to paper means operative to first move J a position of rest over the light and then to support and a second movable suction tube operative to remove the printed sheet from the negative the platen.

11. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a source of light, a holder for a supply of sheets of sensitized paper, a movable device for supporting a negative, and means operative to first move said device to a position of rest over the light and then to return it to its cent to the paper holder.

12. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a source of light, a holder for a supply of sheets of sensitized paper, a movable device'for supporting a negative, said device to return it to its initial position adjacent to the paper holder, means for feeding a sensitized sheet from tive, and means for removing the printed sheet from the negative.

13. In a photo raphic printing machinethe combination to? a frame, a source of light disposed within the frame, a rotary shutter surrounding the light and having an adjustable opening, a platen slidably mounted on the frame, a paper holder secured to the frame, and a mechanism for sliding the platen to and fro between the light and the paper holder.

14. In a photographic printing machine the combination of a frame, a platen slidably mounted on the frame, an intermittent source of light disposed Within the frame in a plane below the platen, a paper holder swingably mounted to the ame, and a mechanism for sliding'the platen to and fro between the light and the paper holder.

15. In a photographic printing machine, the combination of a source of light, a device for supporting a negative capable of reciprocating movement and operative to convey the negative to printing posltlon with respect to the light and then to carry it away from the light, and a mechanism for periodically reciprocating the said device.

In witness whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER W. DREYFOOS.

Witnesses:

P. ACQUAVIVA, S. L. DREYFOOS.

initial position adja- I the holder onto the nega- I 

